


The Big Rescue

by Theonewhosawitall



Series: Rick's View [8]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Betrayal, Canon-Typical Violence, Coda, Dancing, F/M, Kidnapping, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: When Higgins is abducted as retaliation for one of Magnum's cases Rick, TC and Magnum will stop at nothing to bring her home. Even breaking a criminal out of prison.Season 3 Episode 9
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Orville Wilbur Richard "Rick" Wright
Series: Rick's View [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181300
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	The Big Rescue

Magnum always said there was something about starting your day alone on the water. That the peace that comes with that kind of solitude was unique. Enough to forget all your worries and just be in the moment. Rick was hoping that catching him after that kind of tranquillity would soften the punch he was about to land.

"Oh! Ahoy, Captain!" Rick called as Thomas came into shore.

"Well, there goes my alone time," Thomas muttered to himself.

Rick lifted a pair of take away cups to shows him. "Hey. Double cap, extra dry, just like you like it."

Thomas pulled his boat closer up the shore while eyeing Rick suspicion. "Before I accept this, I want to know what it's gonna cost me."

Rick swore inwardly. Thomas knew him too well. "Just..."

Thomas tilted his head and put his hands on his waist as he watched Rick. The suspicion in his eyes was growing. It made Rick's chest tight.

"Your advice. God knows I could use some."

Thomas didn't look fully convinced. Usually Rick wasn't the kind of person who needed to butter him up just for advice. Not unless it was something be ready knew he shouldn't be doing.

He gave a breezy laugh, "Okay. What's up?"

"It's..."

Rick had fallen into a habit of using everyone's assumptions about him and Suzie as a cover to finally talk about his feelings for Juliet without having to talk about his feelings for _Juliet._ TC had told him several times now where he stood on the matter and Rick just wanted someone else's opinion. He valued Thomas's above most others, but he couldn't tell him the truth. He was far too close to her.

"It's _her,_ man! I got it bad. Like, really bad. Uh, only thing is it's just a little complicated..."

"You mean because you're her boss and if you ask her out, she may feel pressured to say yes. Not to mention if she does say no, could make for an awkward workplace."

No. That was not exactly what Rick meant. But it felt safer to nod and agree with Thomas's assumptions than to correct him. He was already kicking himself for it. TC told him in no uncertain terms that he had to get Thomas's permission before asking Juliet out. At worst he said no and TC would take him aside to make him explain why he was against Rick being happy until it clicked in his head. At best he said yes and -

And that sent a whole other set of fears through him that he did not want to think about right now.

"I was thinking maybe you could uh... maybe you could, you could ask her out for me?"

The words just fell out of Rick's mouth in panic as he tried and failed to come up with some other reason for being here. He was bailing out of telling Thomas the truth, and in doing so leapt right from the frying pan into the fire.

"Oh, okay, so when you said you wanted advice, what you really were saying was you wanted a favour," Thomas accused.

"Come on, where's your compassion, man?" Rick complained, "I really like this woman."

"What is this, fifth grade? I got to go talk to the cute girl in class for you, maybe slip her a note?" Thomas snickered.

Rick put on a show of sighing and looking disappointed, but inwardly he was deeply relieved at the refusal. Things were already tough today, Rick didn’t want to have to slink back to the bar and explain to the pretty new bartender why his friend was hitting on her for him when he wasn't interested. But to throw Thomas off the scent, he carried on his performance.

"Please, come on! You're acting just like TC!"

"You mean reasoned and intelligent?" Thomas smirked.

"No, I mean he's like the angel on my shoulder! He's always pushing me to do the right thing. _You_ are supposed to be my devil!" Rick complained.

Thomas tilted his head at Rick, "Pretty sure I should be offended by that."

Looking back on their adventures though, Thomas could see how Rick could come to that conclusion. TC liked to think things through and take advantage of whatever the simplest cause of action was. People rarely expected or prepared for the most obvious attacks. Thomas, however, liked to go in first and wing it.

It was Thomas insisting that Rick totally could make it all the way across the sandy camp floor in the midday sun, in the desert, barefoot, that got Rick pulled into medical for three days to name just one thing.

"I just don't get why I can't ask her out. I mean, and if sh-" Rick caught himself just in the nick of time, "if Higgins gets to date her doctor, why shouldn't I ask out an employee?"

Thomas's weight shifted and he gave Rick a look that said a lecture was about to follow. Rick held back on rolling his eyes. He hated it when Thomas got on his high horse about things. TC already had a chopper for that, why did Thomas need a horse?!

At the sound of a flustered horse braying and a thundering of hooves heading in their general direction, Rick frowned. He turned. When a chestnut coloured mare came galloping out of the trees for a split second he thought he had telepathically summoned one into existence. As it got closer, he recognised the floppy mane and the twitch in her right ear.

"Is that Higgins' horse?"

Thomas frowned, "Yeah."

Recognising one of the people she had found, she slowed her panicked gallop into an uneasy trot. Thomas stepped forward cautiously, raising his arms to try and ease her again.

"Easy, girl, easy," he assured her.

She stopped, neighed again, and allowed him to latch onto her reins. Rick watched, impressed. Being a city boy, Rick had no idea how to handle horses - especially ones not being ridden by police - but Thomas had been forced to work with the stablemates after annoying Juliet, and he had picked up a few things.

"It get out of the stable?" Rick asked.

Thomas stroked her neck as he shook his head, "Don't think so. She wouldn't be saddled."

That stuck concern into Rick instantly, especially after their recent experiences. He tried to stop himself going to the worst possible scenarios though.

"She go out riding?"

"She does every morning. Let me phone Kumu, she'll know."

Thomas handed the reins to Rick who took them, somewhat reluctantly. He ran a hand across the horse's neck to try and soothe it while Thomas stepped away to make his phone call.

"Where'd you leave our girl huh? She okay?" Rick asked the horse, quietly. It grunted back. Rick's brow furrowed as he watched the tension grow in Thomas's shoulders. "Uh oh... that's not good. What happened horsey? Where's Juliet?"

The horse was shifted as he held on but he didn’t really notice. His eyes were fixed on Thomas, noting every tense twitch in his back muscles, and every way he adjusted the phone in his hand and twisted his head like he thought it would change the answers he was being given.

This was not good news.

Rick walked the horse over to a nearby tree and tied up her reins so that she couldn’t wander off and get into more mischief. He couldn't just stand still and wait for the bad news so he did the only helpful think he could think of and traced the horseshoe prints backwards. Thomas followed.

"Yeah, okay... We'll call you when we find her," Thomas hung up and turned back to Rick, "Kumu said Higgins left over an hour ago."

Rick's heart thumped again. He swallowed to keep his nerve. "I don't get it, if she fell or had an accident or something, why wouldn't she call out for help?"

"I don't know. I mean, she could have been thrown off. Could be unconscious for all we know," Thomas said.

Rick did not like the idea of Juliet laying injured, unconscious and vulnerable out there, _somewhere._ The idea of her being unsafe in any capacity always filled him with dread.

"HIGGINS!" Rick yelled into the air.

It was an unoriginal plan. One that worked on instinct rather than logic. Juliet was missing, perhaps unable to answer them, and yet yelling out and hoping for a response was all they had to go on. If nothing else, maybe it would make her feel better to hear that they were searching for her.

"Higgy!" Rick yelled.

They waded through the greenery, searching for any signs that could give them any indication of what happened. Rick was searching for any flashes of white in the undergrowth. He may not have seen what Juliet was wearing today, but he knew her well and essentially every outfit she wore contained something white.

"Over here! It's Higgins' phone," Thomas called.

Rick turned, his eyes naturally raking through the grass on their way to him. Across the path, Rick saw something that made his stomach hit his shoes.

"Thomas, blood."

Thomas snapped up to attention, alarmed. Juliet's phone was unharmed save a few superficial scratches. There was no signal here though. No way of tracking her last movements beyond how they already were. Two steps from the blood spatter, Rick's heart raced again.

"I got drag marks, Thomas! They lead this way!" He couldn't fully hide the fear in his voice as he started to run.

Rick lead the way down towards the road, following the scraped ground. It utterly killed him to think that they were hauling Juliet across the ground like a sack of potatoes. She had to have been unconscious. Juliet didn’t go down easy. Although when they reached the road out of here, that thought did not provide comfort.

Juliet was already in danger. If she made things worse for herself by being as strong willed and brilliant as he knew she was, they could just kill her. Maybe they would anyway. Maybe they already had...

"Tire tracks..." Thomas breathed.

The sudden reminder that he was not alone kicked Rick away from his spiralling thoughts. He choked out, "Someone was waiting with a car. They knew Higgins would be coming through here," Rick said.

Thomas gave him a grim nod, "And now they have her."

Rick's chest heaved. Thomas was not being reassuring. He was even less reassuring as they walked back to the house - Thomas leading the horse and Rick dragging the canoe - throwing out theories about who had taken her and why.

"If they've been following _me_ in that SUV then they know how important Juliet is to me, they could have taken her because of that!"

Rick dropped his head so low that his chin hit his chest. The trouble was that this new theory had already entered Rick's head and bubbled by new implications. If they had taken Juliet because of how important she was to Thomas than they knew he cared about her more than anything. If strangers could see it, it was obvious, which meant Rick was just kidding himself with the idea that Thomas would be okay with him asking Juliet out. And, more importantly, if she got hurt then it was Thomas's fault. Rick did not want to blame Thomas but it was hard not to right now. Not when they didn’t know who else was to blame.

"Yeah well maybe its not even about you. Maybe its about Juliet. She's got a life outside of you - a busy one! She's got this whole estate and she's got hacking skills and she used to be MI6 - maybe this is nothing to do with you at all. Ever think of that?" Rick did his best to keep the impatience out of his voice.

He loved Thomas, he did, but sometimes this ability of his to do no work but take all the credit rubbed him the wrong way. Juliet's life did not revolve around Thomas, no matter how much he wished it did. Sometimes he needed to remember that.

"You're right... maybe this isn’t my fault..." Thomas sounded awestruck.

Rick rolled his eyes. Thomas was blaming himself for the whole world's problems again. Rick hated it when he did that. It made it harder to blame him for things that really were his fault.

"Yeah, you're not to blame for everything Y’know. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re not that special," Rick assured him, breezily.

"Maybe this is something from her past back for vengeance, like Viper," Thomas said.

"Maybe," Rick shrugged. "I'll meet you inside."

He was relieved when the path split in two and they had to go in separate directions, because he couldn’t focus on who to blame right now. He needed to find her first. Blame could come later. First she had to be safe. He dragged Thomas's canoe back to it's usual place by the guest house and wandered inside to phone TC.

"Aloha!" TC sounded far too happy and it made Rick's heart wince, "did you do it yet? Is our boy on board?"

"Not exactly," Rick sighed.

"Not exactly as in he’s not on board?" TC asked, concerned.

"Not exactly as in I didn't ask. Something came up," Rick said.

"Something always comes up - y’know you're not going to feel right asking her out no matter what she says if you don’t tell Tommy-"

"Juliet's missing."

"I'm on my way."

...

The worst part of Juliet being kidnapped was knowing that there was absolutely nothing that Rick could do until they reached out. If they reached out. All he could do was worry and pace to try and work off the growing unsettled energy in him. It was like the calm before battle. He always hated that feeling.

"Why would someone do this?" Kumu demanded.

"I don't know. But whoever it is, they did their homework. They knew Higgins' schedule and that she'd be her most vulnerable during that morning ride," Thomas sighed.

"Yo. What do we know so far?" TC demanded as he entered.

"Uh, not much," Rick said. "Katsumoto is leading the investigation. HPD's processing the scene."

"But why Juliet? Why would someone want to take her?" Kumu asked.

She was scared. They could all hear it. Unlike them, Kumu didn’t have any training to tame that fear. It came out in demands for information they just didn’t have. Rick and Thomas shared a reluctant look across the room. Both of them were thinking the same thing and wishing that they weren't.

"Could be something from her MI6 days. Blowback from an old assignment," Thomas said.

"Or it could be a money play," TC said.

"Yeah, Higgins owns Robin's Nest. Worth a lot of cash, at least on paper," Rick agreed.

Part of him hoped that whatever caused this was because of Robin and not Thomas. If he could attribute the blame to someone _not_ standing beside him he might be able to think clearer. Thomas's phone chimed it was a reminder that he was right there. By the look on his face, Robin wasn’t the problem.

"What? What is it?!" Kumu asked urgently. Thomas showed her his phone. She gasped, "Oh, my God."

Rick and TC leaned closer to see the photo on his screen. Juliet, gagged, bound, and blindfolded in front of some dark wooden panelling. It gave very little information to go on and made Rick's legs give slightly. For all the utter terror in his chest right now, only one thing crossed his mind.

She was wearing a white shirt.

The image disappeared as an unknown number called. It didn’t take a private investigator to guess who was calling.

"Get your phone," Thomas said to Rick, "You got to record this."

Rick nodded, "Okay... Got it."

Thomas took a deep breath. All the oxygen in the room was his. No one else was using it.

"Hello?"

"Do I have your attention, Mr. Magnum?"

"You do."

"Good. Listen carefully. Three hours from now, a prisoner will be transported out of Wahiawa Penitentiary. The size of the convoy is unknown, but security will be heavy."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if you ever want to see Ms. Higgins alive again, you're gonna free that prisoner."

The phone beeped soon after with no more information for now. Whoever was controlling this wasn’t giving up any of their cards. Clearly they were arrogant enough to assume they were really going to get away with this. They didn’t even try to mask their voice. With somewhere to focus his furious guiltlessly, Rick's chest felt like a vice but his mind cleared. He could work with Thomas now. That made things easier.

"Do we tell the police?" Kumu asked.

"No. Not yet, at least. Limits our options," Thomas said.

He wasn’t fully there anymore. Now that Rick was back in the room Thomas was busy thinking. TC frowned as he did.

"I've seen that look before. What are you thinking?" He asked.

"I've been followed for a couple months, right? Now Higgins gets taken?" Thomas said, more of a statement than a question.

"You think it's the same person?" Kumu asked.

"I mean, think about it, Somebody does surveillance on me; they identify Higgins as someone they can use to leverage me-" Thomas began.

"Yeah, but why you?" TC interrupted, "I mean, you're capable, sure, but if this guy's just looking to bust somebody out of prison, plenty of people that'll do it for the right price. Got to be some other reason that he's targeting you."

Thomas' face changed. In that moment TC knew he was right and he knew that Thomas had an idea of who was behind this. Thomas looked to Kumu, concerned.

"Uh, Kumu, could you leave, please?" He pleaded.

Kumu, not being the kind of woman who backed down easily, scowled at the idea, "What? Why?"

"Because what we're about to discuss is highly illegal, and the less you know about it the better."

Kumu's face did not change except to look more pissed off at being excluded. Rick couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t very long ago that all of them - Juliet included - came to her aid when she was arrested for grand larceny and it was only to be expected that she wanted to pay them back now. Besides, Juliet was her friend too. If she saw her friends as family like the rest of them, then Juliet was her own daughter. She wasn’t about to let this go.

"Please."

Thomas never pleaded quiet as desperately as this. It even took Rick by surprise. Then he felt a flicker of guilt. All three people in this room were not about to let him do anything alone. They never had. But that put them in danger. With Juliet already in danger, of course Thomas was going to do everything he could go limit the amount of people involved.

That was the loyalty that Rick found so endearing. Once again Thomas wormed his way back into Rick's affections. Which was useful because Kumu was clearly frustrated by it.

"Just bring her home, okay?" She said.

"So we doing this thing, huh?" TC said firmly.

It wasn't a question, more of a warning. They were doing this together. If Thomas even tried benching TC all it would do was waste time.

"I don't see any other choice," Thomas sighed. "One thing I do know is that we got to keep Katsumoto out of it."

TC looked disapproving, "Come on, Thomas, you know you can't-"

Thomas cut him off firmly, "I know what you're gonna say, right? He's put his job on the line for us a thousand times. But this is different. I mean, if he knows a crime is about to be committed-- a prison break no less-- he can't just stand by and let that happen!"

And TC couldn’t argue with that. Time and time again Gordon had put himself in the firing line for them and this time - this time it was a step too far. They had to protect him too.

"Hey kid, are you even listening to me?!" Icepick demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening," Rick lied.

"This is worse than that stupid poker tournament, this could actually get you killed, you understand that?"

"That doesn’t matter-"

"That doesn’t matter- _that_ _doesn’t matter?!_ Well it might not matter to you but it matters a whole damn lot to me! I don't know what idiot thing you think you and your friends can pull off but I’m telling you, if you end up in here with me, I'm going to beat your ass so bad you'll only see me when I'm getting my chemo! Will it be worth it then?!"

"If it brings her home alive then yeah."

"God help you Rick. Why do you always fall for trouble?"

Rick didn’t have an answer. In his mind Juliet wasn't trouble. Trouble followed them, sure, and when it was a little too quiet someone (usually Thomas) would go and seek something out to draw it back in, but that wasn't Juliet's fault. she wasn’t the problem More often than not, she was the solution.

After the silence had gone on a beat too long Icepick sighed hopelessly at the other end. Even he could tell there was nothing he could do to talk Rick out of this.

"Do me a favour and be careful okay? I love you but I'd rather see you through the glass, got that?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it. Thanks Ice. Love you too."

Rick's phone beeped loudly as he hung up. He took a deep breath. Icepick was right. What they were planning was utterly insane and likely to go wrong and it could end up with them either dead or behind bars. Especially Rick. He still had about five hundred more hours of community service to carry out. That would not endear him to a judge.

Yet that was a much less terrifying option than losing Juliet.

"Hey, I just got off the phone with Icepick. He gave me the name of the prisoner that's being moved."

"Who is it?" TC asked.

"Guy's name is Elliott Hamler," Rick said.

TC frowned. He had never heard that name in his life. Rick and TC turned towards Thomas. It was obvious that he had.

"You know him?" TC asked.

Thomas gave a slight nod, "Yeah. He hired me to track down his wife, Kiana. She had gone missing and he suspected she had fallen off the wagon. He wanted me to find her and get her into rehab."

TC frowned, "so, wait, if this Hamler guy was your client, then how'd he end up in prison?"

Thomas bristled slightly, "I put him there."

Rick's eyebrows rose. He and TC shared a look. Thomas offered up no more information because he was busy rubbing the back of his neck like a new weight had landed across his shoulders. This wasn't time to play the blame game though. They didn't have enough to waste.

Especially with Gordon heading there way.

"Okay, well, guess that's a bigger story. that we'll have to hear about later," Rick warned, pointedly.

Thomas frowned. He had expected Rick to demand answers instantly. When he met Rick's eye, Rick nodded subtly. Thomas turned, just in time for Gordon to appear beside him.

"Any update?" Thomas asked.

"CSU took casts of the tire treads and pulled traffic cams in the area. We identified the kidnapper's vehicle, but unfortunately it came back as stolen. Owner's out of town, didn't even know it was gone," Gordon explained.

"So it's a dead end?" Rick sighed.

Gordon was also less than thrilled with the lack of lead and it showed on his face. "Afraid so. But given how well our kidnapper covered his tracks, and the fact that they clearly knew Higgins's schedule, I have a hunch this may be connected to the person who was following you guys a couple months back."

"Yeah, TM was just saying that same thing," TC said.

Just because it cleared up one mystery didn't make this any easier to handle. Rick could feel the restless energy building in him again and he needed to pace it off, but he needed to be a part of this conversation more.

"Magnum, listen, for all we know, you could be a target, too. That's why I need to ask you to stand down. I'm also gonna post a protection detail outside," Gordon explained.

Rick felt a flicker of alarm run through him. If there was a protection detail parked right outside than they would be unescapable. They couldn't very well go and commit a crime with a tail!

"H-Hang on, Gordy, you're gonna bench us while Higgins is in trouble?!" Rick demanded.

Gordon gave him a firm but sympathetic look, "I am. HPD is doing everything we can to find her. Let us do our job."

Rick clenched his jaw furiously. It might have been HPD's job to look out for normal civilians, but it was their job to look out for their family. It was _Rick's_ job took out for Higgins.

"You know what? I think he's right," Thomas declared.

If looks could kill then Rick would have set Thomas on fire at that exact moment. His fists clenched along with his jaw. TC tensed beside him.

"Guys, we're too close to this, all right? We got to let HPD take this one," Thomas said, firmly.

Rick glanced towards TC to see how he was reacting. Much to his relief, TC also looked like he thought Thomas had lost his mind. Even Gordon was giving him a side eye

"Thanks..." he said, suspiciously. "I'll let you guys know if I find anything."

They nodded and allowed him to leave. He was barely out of earshot before TC was demanding answers.

"Now, please tell me we're not standing down!"

"Of course not!" Thomas hissed.

Relief ricocheted through Rick but it wasn’t enough to satiate him, "All right, good. How we gonna get past the protection detail?"

"You let me handle that," Thomas said.

Rick hummed dubiously. Thomas pursed his lips slightly. He had about half a plan and the confidence that he could wing the rest. That had been enough in the past though.

...

Juliet had an itch. That was always the worst thing about being bound. The worst thing about the gag was that it made her thirsty, but having an itch she physically could not scratch was infuriating. The blindfold she didn't mind at the moment. It was the only thing she had acting as a bandage for the wound across her eyebrow. It was throbbing in pain, but at least with this on she wouldn’t bleed out.

This was hardly the first time Juliet had been held hostage, but it was the first time she had no control over her own rescue. She was relying on blind faith that whoever they were using her as leverage against was going to save her. Whoever that was. The mental list of people who cared about her enough for her kidnapping to be worth someone’s while was short. Heartbreakingly so. But she had to have faith that her friends would come to save her.

If they could find her without her there to hack the kidnappers cell that is...

Juliet heard footsteps coming from above her. She listened carefully to try and work out the gait of their stride. If she could figure that out she could extrapolate their height outwards. She heard a door open nearby and felt a draft across her cheek. The footsteps were louder now.

She wasn't alone.

Juliet steeled herself for whatever form of torture was about to come her way. Training kicked in, like it did every other time before. Just her name and her agent identification number. Nothing more. Less if possible. She bit harder on the gag, just in case.

Juliet could sense the strangers presence. She could feel their eyes on her. It felt like a butcher staring down a prized calf. She hated it. When she got out of here she was going to tear them apart.

Juliet gasped as they roughly yanked the blindfold down and pulled her gag out at the same time. Her heartbeat quickened. The man staring at her made no attempt to hide himself. She could see every detail of his face. Long but oval, with dark stubble across his chin, bright blue eyes, slender eyebrows, and parted, pink lips. Plenty of detail to memorize and pass to Gordon. Sooner rather than later.

Much to Juliet's surprise he held up a water bottle to her mouth. The gag had left her throat dry and she was desperately thirsty. As reluctant as she was to feel like a hamster being bottle fed, she drank anyway. He waited until she swallowed. She watched him back, cautiously.

"More?"

Juliet blinked. She gave a soft shake of her head. He nodded and screwed the cap back into place. This was strange. She definitely wasn’t used to kidnappers being attentive. Especially unmasked ones.

"I do have a question, though," she said.

He looked more curious than surprised, but he said nothing. She licked her lips.

"Why bother giving me water when you clearly plan to kill me?"

He tilted his head. The curiosity didn’t change. He didn’t give anything else away though, positive or negative. That was more unsettling.

"Why would you assume that?" He asked.

"Because if I had any chance of getting out of here alive, you would never have let me see your face," Juliet said.

He considered this for a moment, and the nodded in acceptance. He set the bottle down nearby, ready for use if she requested it. Another odd move.

"You surviving this depends entirely on your friend, Mr. Magnum. If he delivers what's been asked of him, I'll be leaving the country, and no one will ever see me again. But if he fails, well... you said it yourself."

Juliet frowned. So this was about Thomas. Of course.

"I take it you're the man in the suv? The one that's been following us?" She said, cautiously.

Now he really did look surprised. He smirked to himself, "I knew you made me."

"Nice touch signing the rental in Magnum's name. Really unsettled him."

"You'd better hope he's still on top of his game. Then again, marines are used to big adrenaline battles on almost no sleep, aren’t they?"

Juliet's curiosity piqued. He spoke with the knowing sneer of the experience. That, combined with the expert knots in the ropes that bound her wrists to the chain above her head, gave her the impression that this man was military. Probably Navy. Maybe that was where he had met Magnum.

"Y’know, uh, Orville says that marines rise with the sun anyway. It's embedded into them. I disagree, I've known Magnum to sleep till noon. What do you think?"

She asked it as innocently as she could. His gaze moved from whatever he was doing on his laptop nearby, to her. His eyes swept across her face, as if trying to read something. She held his eye. It gave him away. He didn't know Rick. He didn't know Magnum from the navy. Not directly anyway.

"I know what you're doing. Trying to endear yourself to me. Make me like you too much to hurt you," he said, before turning back to his laptop, "sorry Ms Higgins but your fate relies on Mr Magnum. There's nothing you can do about that."

Juliet considered this for a moment. If he had been following them as staunchly as they assumed they he had to have seen Rick and TC and Shammy and Kumu and even Gordon working with them to solve cases. He had seen them working with their friends and assumed that they weren't enough to outwit him in the end.

Clearly he hadn't done enough homework.

...

"you sure this will work?" TC asked uncertainly.

"Nope, but as long as she really guns it, it'll buy us time to get one step ahead of them," Thomas said.

TC really didn't like the idea of involving Kumu in this. He didn't like the idea of getting her into any more trouble than they already had. Kumu, however, was less worried. In fact she was rather excited.

"Alright but uh, a Ferrari doesn’t exactly run the same as a cute little scooter-" TC began.

"Hey I've ridden that scooter, it might be cute but it takes a lot of concentration. Kumu's got this," Thomas smirked.

"Don't you worry, I know what I'm doing," Kumu winked.

She climbed into the drivers seat. She instantly adjusted the seat to fit in better. Kumu was ready for this. Thomas leaned down at the window.

"Please try not to scratch the paintwork, Higgy will only make me pay for it," He said.

Kumu just winked and patted his cheek instead of answering. Thomas opened his mouth to argue, but they were wasting time they didn’t have.

"C'mon, let's get this started!" Rick called.

TC nodded. He moved to follow as Rick headed for his truck. Thomas jogged to catch up so he wouldn’t be left behind. As soon as the van doors were shut, Kumu revved the Ferrari engine and took off at the highest speed she could manage. Thomas sighed heavily and dropped his head into the seat behind him.

"She's gonna scratch the paint work."

TC said nothing, but he agreed. Rick bounced his knee anxiously as he waited for TC to follow the protection unit and sneak past when they caught Kumu. It was barely a five second wait and yet doing nothing filled him with frustration. He sighed in relief when they were finally free.

"All right, first order of business, we got to do some recon. See if we can figure out everything we can about this prison transport," Thomas said.

"I'd say we should just hack Wahiawa's server, but Higgy's our go-to for that sort of thing," TC said.

"Don't get me wrong, Higgy's great, but she's not the only hacker on the island."

Finally able to think clearer, Rick was already mentally shuffling through his internal rolodex of contacts.

TC eyed him in the rear-view mirror, "you know a guy?"

Rick snickered, "I always do."

There was exactly one person left on this island that Rick could go to. It was probably going to get him some flack from his friends, but the kid was the best. It didn’t matter how much they teased him, no one but the best was good enough for Juliet. Rick didn't really speak again as he lead them through the park. Both TC and Thomas were asking questions, but Rick was focused on getting where they needed to go.

They all came to a stop as Rick searched the skaters for a familiar face.

"What are we doing here?" Thomas asked.

"Looking for him," Rick gestured to a kid on a board.

Thomas frowned, "That's your computer wiz?"

"Yeah, trust me, this kid's got skills," Rick assured him, "He had this scam going at Oahu State where he'd trade cash for grades. Uh, he gave himself a triple PhD and then he got busted for fraud and identity theft."

Thomas didn't look convinced. TC grumbled to himself, but Rick had never really let him down before. Besides, with Juliet on the line, he knew Rick wasn’t about to take a risk.

"Hey, what's up, Zeke?!" Rick whistled loudly for attention.

That was a mistake. Zeke had been about to take a jump. With Rick distracting him he over shot the balance and went flying. He landed with a grunt on the concrete.

"Oh..." Rick winced.

Thomas sighed, "Well, we're off to a great start."

Rick ignored him. He went over to help Zeke to his feet and apologise for causing the problem. Zeke gave him an unimpressed looked but held onto his arm as he limped over to a seat.

"I take it you're here for a favour?" Zeke accused.

Thomas snickered. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one out here constantly having to ask for favours. Rick explained the situation as quickly and with as little detail as possible.

"Sorry, my dude. Wish I could help, but one of the conditions of my parole is, I can't use a computer. Like, at all," Zeke said.

Rick's face fell. He was ready to argue. Nothing was going to keep him away from Juliet, especially some kid like this, but fortunately Rick wasn’t alone.

"I get that, but we're in a real jam here, all right?" Thomas said, "All we need you to do is hack into Wahiawa Penitentiary and just get us a little info on a prisoner transport."

Zeke's eyebrows rose. "Oh, is that all? Just hack into a prison and help you guys bust out a criminal? No, thank you."

"It's not like that. We'd love to explain, but, honestly, the less you know about it, the better off you are," Thomas insisted.

Zeke shook his head, "Yeah, still no for me, dawg."

Thomas sighed. He looked back at Rick. For a moment Rick wondered if he was finally giving him permission to throw a punch, but then the local side of his mind came back to him.

"Listen, man, we're desperate, All right?" Rick insisted, "A friend of ours' life is in danger. This is a chance for you to use your skills for some good. You could help save her."

Zeke eyed Rick cautiously. He looked across the others. The desperation was radiating from them. Zeke could tell that they weren’t going to let up. And he hadn't used a laptop in so long...

"Let me see that thing."

Rick held out the laptop for Zeke to take. He pulled it open the instantly it hit his knee and immediately started typing. It was second nature, and it felt good to be doing something he was so good at again.

"All right, so the guy's name is Elliott Hamler. He's scheduled to be moved later on today," Thomas explained.

Rick folded his arms. His hands felt weird now that he wasn’t holding the laptop anymore. Zeke ignored them.

"Hey, you know, if you need a second to do-" Thomas began.

Zeke snapped the enter button and held the laptop back out to Rick, "I'm in."

Rick gave Thomas a slightly smug look. It was always satisfying to be proved right.

"Okay, then... All right, looks like he's gonna be moved at 12:30 today, and he's scheduled to be transported in an armoured van, along with four guards and an HPD escort," Thomas said.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us," Rick said.

"This isn't going to link back to me is it?" Zeke asked cautiously.

"Don't worry, if anyone goes down, it's gonna be us," TC promised.

He had this surly look that did not really reassure Zeke in any way. Rick reached out to pat his shoulder. Not one of them offered any more of an explanation before turning to leave.

...

On her own, without a gag or a blindfold, and her life in Thomas's hands Juliet was certain of one thing. She needed to get out of here. She listened out to try and figure out how many people were in this house. It sounded like it was just the two of them. Her and her kidnapper, and he didn’t even bind her feet.

She could get out of here.

Juliet looked up at the ceiling above her. This basement had a low ceiling. Nothing too high to climb. That was useful. Yoga kept her core strong and flexible and now was the time for that to pay off. Juliet hauled herself up the rope until she reached the chains themselves. Then she hauled her legs over the chains to stabilise herself on the ceiling.

It was obvious right from the start that she was never going to be able to break through the metal, but she didn't need to. There was a sharper edge to the casing that held the chains to the ceiling. She rubbed the ropes on her wrists across it as hard and fast as she could.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. Rope burns on her wrists were like a ring of blisters and they weren’t going to fade any time soon. Then, finally, the ropes frayed enough to snap!

Juliet went crashing down, down, down and landed on her back. She gave a grunt in pain. Once free, she had to work fast. She yanked the ropes off of her wrists and looked around again. The windows down here were too high to reach but if she moved that bookcase- no that wouldn't work. The kidnapper would definitely hear the moving bookcase and even if he somehow didn’t, it didn’t look as though these windows opened.

There was only one way out.

Juliet crept upstairs as quietly as she could. The door creaked. She froze. Juliet could see the back of her kidnapper as he fussed over some kind of webcam. She couldn't see enough to tell what kind. It didn't matter. If she could make it across this room and to that door without him turning around, she was home free.

Juliet picked her steps carefully. She had to stay close to the wall until she was past the table so she could use it as a shield if he looked up. Then something caught her eye. There was a note pad left open on the table. All it said was Second Glance, three and a half hours.

Ironically she didn’t give it a second glance.

She just filed away the information for later, and crept across to the door. She took a deep breath. The moment she opened this door she would have to run like her life depended on it.

It did.

Fortunately she was fast and she was tall. One look at that fence and Juliet knew she could be up and over it in two moves. She pounced like a wild cat, ready for freedom-

And croaked in alarm at the sudden shock of hot electrical bolts writhing across her body.

Juliet dropped to the grass with a groan. The searing pain was still coursing across her skin as she stared up at the sky. It sent her head into the clouds, utterly dazed. Too pained to move.

But it was such a pretty day. The sky was just so blue. It reminded her of Rick. Sometimes his eyes were so blue that Juliet wondered how it was possible that there was any left over for things like the sky and the sea. She wondered the same about the sunshine whenever he smiled at her. That smile could do funny things to her heart sometimes. She didn't like to dwell on that much, but since she was probably going to die today, her mind was calmly moving through things she didn’t want to dwell on. Fears and regrets. Both of which brought her back to Rick...

Juliet didn’t recognise the dark shape now looming over her. Back lit by the sky, it was difficult to make out much detail. Combine with the way she had just been fried like a bug in a zapper and it was hard to think who that could be. For a fleeting moment she dared to hope it was Rick himself, but then her eyes adjusted.

It was not Rick.

It was not Magnum.

It was not anyone who was going to come here and rescue her.

Standing over here, where she was too dazed and weak to fight back, was the man who had kidnapped her in the first place.

"Now, was that in any way helpful?" He asked, plainly.

Juliet croaked as she tried to speak, "You never met Orville... you don't know Magnum from the Navy... who are you?"

He eyed her where she laid. There was some strange level of pity in his eyes. Juliet noted it with defiance. She didn’t want to be pitied. Whoever he was he bent down and helped to haul her up. She tried to go limp, but it had to affect. He steadied her on her feet and lifted her arm to go around her neck. Once she was standing, he spoke to the ground.

"I'm just a boy who wants his dad to come home. He's all I have left."

Juliet blinked as she felt her chest heave for him. He didn't have his father. Just like Magnum. Just like Rick. Just like TC. He felt alone. Just like her... A ridiculous thought crossed her mind. In another life, maybe they could have been friends.

She put that down to the electrocution.

...

Since they couldn’t go back to robins nest while the protective detail was there, the next obvious choice was the bar. There were only two people who were supposed to be working today - their chef, and Suzie. They were doing inventory in the back until TC politely asked them to leave. Suzie tilted her head at the way Rick was arched over the pool table, chewing his lip furiously. He looked like he was planning something dangerous. Or just trying to work out a really difficult shot. She was about to go and talk to him when she bumped into Thomas.

"Hi Suzie. Thank you for this," he said, politely.

Suzie gave him a smile, but her eyes clearly asked whether he thought she had a choice when both owners of the bar asked her to leave. She was confident that Thomas had never worked a real job in his life. Thomas glanced back at Rick and licked his lips nervously. After everything Rick had done for him today alone, he the need to return the favour.

"Um, I-I hope you don't mind, but there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Suzie tilted her head, "okay? What's up?"

TC returned to the edge of the pool table with one red sharpie. He dropped it down on top of the map of Oahu that Rick had pulled off of the wall and laid across the green. TC glanced towards Thomas. He was distracted talking to Suzie, to TC lowered his voice to do something he had been meaning to all day.

"You holding up okay?"

Rick glanced up in surprise, but only momentarily. His focus soon shifted back to the map. The sooner could figure out how to make this break out work the sooner they could get Juliet back.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Rick asked drily.

"Because this is hard for all of us, but you in particular with your feelings," TC said, pointedly.

Rick's shoulders tensed. He shifted uncomfortably. Those feelings were running across his gut like a headless chicken, crashing into anxiety and terror and he was doing his best to drown them out.

"I'll be okay when she's home," he said, firmly.

TC rarely saw Rick bury his feelings like this. The guy usually wore his heart on his sleeve, especially when it mattered. Unless he was scared. TC ran a hand across his back.

"We're gonna get her back. We are."

Rick clenched his jaw, but raised his head to nod in agreement. "I know."

He had nothing but stubbornness to back him up but he was sticking with it. TC nodded firmly in agreement. He had faith on his side too. They would get Juliet back, or die doing so.

"Okay, here's what we know," Thomas declared, "once a month, Hamler is transported to Queens Medical down here for a blood transfusion to treat a liver condition."

"Why so much security for a regular trip like that?" TC asked.

"Same reason they got him in solitary. Apparently, word's out that Hamler's been talking to the Feds, trying to shave time off his sentence in exchange for rolling on some of his old associates, most of whom are-- ding-ding, surprise-- criminals," Rick said.

"Ah, so there's a lot of people that want to keep him from talking," TC said.

"Exactly," Thomas nodded, "Now, I looked at the route, and I think that the best place to hit the convoy is probably right here."

Thomas leaned across to draw a circle on the map. TC sighed.

"We're gonna need two clean vehicles," he warned.

"Okay, I'll call Kawika and get him right on it," Rick declared.

Thomas continued, "We take out the lead vehicle, we have less than a minute to extract Hamler and get out of there."

"That's not a lot of time," TC noted.

"No, it's not, but we take any longer, we risk compromising our getaway," Thomas said.

TC nodded as he took in the new information. Rick glanced across them and felt an odd flicker of nostalgia.

"Extraction, exfil, kinda reminds me of the old days, huh?" He smirked.

TC smirked back. The same thought had crossed this mind. Strangely though, this felt far heavier than anything they had faced out there. Rick's phone rang.

"Oh, hang on... Oh, yeah, I got to take this. Hey, pal, what you got? Really? Okay. Oh, hey, you really came through this time. Thanks, pal," Rick hung up without a goodbye and continued, "There's a guard at Wahiawa, went through all of Hamler's phone records, logs. Said there was one person visiting him on the regular."

"Who's that?" Thomas asked.

"A guy named Miles Hamler," Rick said, knowingly.

Thomas had a look as though he was having a flashback, then muttered to himself, "The son?"

TC's ears pricked, "What son?"

"Miles Hamler is Elliott Hamler's son from his first marriage," Thomas explained, "He served in the Second Brigade Combat Crew."

"Well, makes sense he would come after you. You sent his dad away," Rick said.

TC eyed him slightly, "You never did tell us why you turned on the guy."

Thomas took a deep breath, "When I finally found his second wife and broke into her motel she offered to pay me to leave her alone. She said that she thought that Hamler had killed his first wife and she didn't want to end up the same way. She was scared. Terrified actually."

Rick could empathize. He was terrified right now and if they didn’t have an action plan or training like she didn’t - well he had lived that life. That's why he had training.

"I take it you never told Hamler you found his wife?" TC said.

"No, I did not. But I did look into his first wife's disappearance, and it was definitely shady," Thomas grimaced.

"Okay, well, I think it's pretty clear that Hamler's son is our kidnapper - He was in regular contact with his father, and he's got the experience and the skills to snatch a highly trained operative like Higgins," Rick declared.

"And now that we know who he is-" Thomas began

"We no longer have to play by his rules," TC finished.

TC had a dangerous grin. They could take back control now and you'd best believe they were going to. Now that was music to Rick's ears. They weren't just one step closer to saving Juliet they were a whole electric slide. It took one call to zeke and a three minute wait before they were back in the car and heading to his home address.

It was a normal looking house. Sloped roof, wide windows, pale green walls, vibrant red door, wire fences - it looked like half of the houses on this island. And it wasn't empty. They sat outside, casing it out quietly to confirm that. The silence was only broken by Rick's phone pinging again.

"Zeke just pinged Miles' phone again. GPS confirms he was here as of five minutes ago," Rick confirmed.

"House is rented in his name, his truck's out front. He's definitely here," TC said.

Thomas nodded, "Let's go."

Rick leapt out of the van like a speeding bullet, gun already in his hand. He was ready to tackle this guy on his own, and if it wasn't for TC's hand on his shoulder reminding him he wasn’t alone, he might have tried. Rick stood on the step keeping cover for Thomas as he picked the lock on the front door. They spilled into the house, filling each room to check for signs of life. Each one held their gun out in front of them, ready. Rick only lowered him when he found a phone plugging into a wall.

"Guys - I got a cell phone. It's got to be Miles."

He wandered back out into the main room, and the other two joined him.

"Yeah, except he's not here!" Thomas said. "Neither is Higgins."

Rick scowled, "They're holding her somewhere else..."

"Guys." TC nudged Thomas gently. He gestured to a webcam mounted to a bookshelf, flashing to let them know it was definitely recording. "He's watching us."

Rick stared at the camera. His shallow breathing was making his pulse race loudly in his own ears. He couldn’t take this. They had gotten so close and now - now she had slipped through their fingers again. He hardly registered the way Thomas's phone rang until it was answered.

"Congratulations! You just got your friend killed!" Mile spat.

Rick's chest tightened. So did the grip on his gun. He wanted this guy dead.

"No, no, wait, wait!" Thomas cried urgently.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't put a bullet in her head right now!" Miles demanded.

"Because if you do, you'll never see your father again!" Thomas insisted.

TC's eyes widened in alarm. Thomas gave him a tense and apologetic look. Rick steeled himself for a response. He couldn’t breath.

"The transport leaves in under an hour. You better get moving."

Rick breathed a sigh of relief as Miles hung up. Miles didn't care what happened as long as he got his father back. Rick could relate. Only he was going to shoot the man when he finally found him. Whether it was in the head or the shoulder depended on how unharmed Juliet was.

"So. Plan A?" TC asked, drily.

Thomas gave an unease nod, "Plan A."

Rick snarled, "I hate this guy."

...

Three guns, two clean cars, a box of blank bullets, and a tire stinger later and the job was done. Hamler was trapped in the walk in and Thomas was in their giving him a change in clothes. Rick felt sick to his stomach.

"Should we be concerned about how often our walk in is used to hold hostages?" He said to TC.

It was the only thing he could think to say. They had bigger problems - much bigger problems - but he couldn’t pretend that having to dial up the temperature in the walk in so that a murderer wouldn't suffer too much while being held in there didn’t bother him. If the food spoiled again, this was going to have another serious blow on the business. TC raised his chin as Thomas walked back in.

"How was the reunion with you and Hamler? You guys all caught up?" He asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," Thomas sighed.

Rick sat up, "So, you gonna tell us how you sent this guy away?"

"Yeah, well, it took some digging, but I eventually found out Hamler was laundering money for organized crime here on the island," Thomas explained, "I sent that evidence to the FBI, anonymously, of course, and a couple days later, he was arrested."

"I guess it wasn't as anonymous as you thought," TC said.

Thomas sighed again and let his arms swing down by his sides. Rick and TC shared a look. Something was going on in Thomas's head and whatever it was, it was distracting him.

"Buddy. What's going on?" Rick asked gently.

Thomas looked at him, and then looked back to TC. He let out another heavy sigh. He couldn't lie to them. There was no point. They knew him too well.

"I could've just bought Kiana a ticket off the island and wished her luck," he muttered.

TC reeled back. He knew Thomas well enough to see where this was going and he already objected.

"Okay, no."

Thomas blinked. "No what?"

"Come on, bro, this is not your fault!"

"Y-You don't know that!" Thomas argued, "I-I mean, I went after Hamler without considering there could be blowback for it down the road - Not just for myself but for people in my life. I didn't have to turn that evidence in. I could've used it as leverage against Hamler, told him if he didn't leave Kiana alone, that I would turn it into the authorities. I..."

TC reached out to laid a hand on his shoulder, "Listen to me, man. You got three years' experience doing this job now. You've grown. But what hasn't changed, though, is you being the kind of man that always tries to do the right thing."

"Any other P.I would take the money from Hamler and decide that it was none of their business. That's not who you are," Rick assured him.

"Look, you did the best that you could back then, and we're doing the best that we can right now," TC said.

"He's right," Rick agreed, but Thomas still looked guilty. "Hey, Higgins is gonna be all right. We're gonna get her back."

"I got to be honest, guys, this... could go wrong a dozen ways. And if it does and the cops find out we sprung Hamler, that's prison time. For all of us," Thomas warned.

"Well, at least we'll be spending our sentences together," TC shrugged.

"Won't be the first time!" Rick smirked.

"You got that right!" TC smirked.

Rick reached out to fist bump TC. TC winked as he reached back to meet him. A pounding on the front door snapped their attention away. All three of them tensed.

"We could have a problem," Rick muttered.

A bigger problem would be to leave Gordon hanging around on the doorstep growing more frustrated and suspicious by the minute. Rick got up to let him in.

"Hey, Gordy. What's up, man? What brings you by?"

"Hey. I was just in the neighbourhood. Figured I'd stop by, maybe grab a bite," Gordon said. He ducked past Rick and walked across the room to where Thomas and TC were clearly attempting to hide something. Gordon watched TC toss some rolled up paper behind the bar and climbed onto the bar stool.

"Maybe see how it's going with that, uh, prisoner you guys busted out. I think his name's Elliott Hamler?" Gordon added, pointedly.

The tension in the room reached breaking point and all of them knew they were done for. Rick's chest felt bound too tight to breathe. If Gordon stopped them now, Rick was sure he would explode. Jail and no Juliet was not how this would end.

Thomas cleared his throat, "Uh, Gordy, I know this looks bad, but there's a reason why we didn't w-"

"I know," Gordon interrupted, which took them all by surprise. "You were trying to protect me. And it's not like I didn't suspect you guys would try something like this. But Higgins is my friend, too. Tell me what I need to know, let's go get her back."

Thomas looked to Rick and TC for permission. To Rick it wasn’t a question. One more person to back them up and bring her home was something to jump on. Especially someone as skilled as Gordon.

"Uh.. Hamler's an old client. He blames me for getting him locked up, so he sent his son Miles to kidnap Higgins to use her as leverage against me," Thomas explained.

TC nodded along and added, "Yeah, the only way the son will let her go is if we give him his father. We're still waiting on the phone call with instructions for the trade."

"HPD has resources to handle this kind of thing. We should be up on your phone for starters," Gordon said.

Rick shook his head, "No, no, Miles was very specific. No cops."

They always said no cops. Although this time part of Rick agreed. It was a lot easier to get away with shooting someone when there were no cops around.

His stomach dropped when the phone rang again.

"This has got to be him," Thomas said to Gordon.

Gordon nodded. It was both accepting his statement and instructing him to answer it. Gordon didn’t need many words when dealing with Magnum.

"Do you have my father?" Miles demanded.

"I do," Thomas stated.

"Nanakuli Forest Reserve. 30 minutes."

"Understood."

"And, Mr. Magnum, if I see anyone other than you and my father there, she dies."

That was it. He hung up immediately. Rick and Gordon shared a knowing look. Miles wasn't about to let anyone track his phone.

"You know you’re not going alone," TC said firmly.

Thomas shook his head, "He’s being tailing us, he knows your faces-"

"Then we wont be seen," Rick stated, "We'll stay out of the way but close. Close enough to be there when this goes down."

Thomas opened his mouth to argue but Gordon got there first, "We've got half an hour, no point arguing. So." He looked around at them each in turn before folding his arms across his chest, "what's the plan?"

...

Rick hated this plan. In fact he hated this whole damn day. Part of him wondered if any of this would even be happening if he had gone up to the main house to talk to Juliet before she went even out riding. Maybe if he had forced her to go later, it would have spooked Miles. Maybe they could have skipped this whole day altogether. But he hadn't, and now he was in the back of TC's van with Gordon riding shotgun, tailing Thomas as he headed through the forest.

"Pull in here. This the furthest we can be from the transmitter without being seen," Gordon said.

"Got it," TC muttered.

They pulled into a small clearing in the bushes and left Thomas to head deeper into the trees without them. TC turned off the engine and leaned back in his seat. Gordon grabbed the transmitter from his bag and began to reassemble it on his lap. Feeling helpless and restless in the back seat, Rick bounced his leg.

"You have got to calm down, you're shaking the whole damn car!" Gordon complained.

"I'll calm down when Higgy and Tommy are back here with us," Rick stated sharply.

Gordon looked to TC. TC gave him a small smirk that warned him to pick his battles. When Rick was riled up like this, it was better to just back him up when he needed it.

The static of the transmission came through as Gordon adjusted the receiver. Rick slowed down the bouncing of his leg but he tightened his grip on his gun.

"It just kills you, doesn't it? Not being in control?"

Rick bristled. For a split second he thought Hamler was speaking to him. It was true. Not being in control was driving him mad.

"Where is she?" Thomas demanded.

There was a long silence that only grew the tension in the back of the van. All eyes were on the speaker, as though that would help them to see her themselves.

"I'm okay."

The relief that filled the van billowed through them in the same way that a tornado filled the sky. Rick nearly collapsed. Two words from Juliet was enough for now, but if he didn’t see her soon he was sure he'd go insane.

"Here's how this is gonna go. I'm gonna count to three, and then we send them across. Once they've switched, we go our separate ways."

"Works for me."

"Good. One. Two. Three-"

"Wait, wait-"

That felt like an icy blast through Ricks bones. His face fell slowly. TC tensed. Gordon clenched his jaw.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

Even Miles didn’t sound confident anymore. Whatever he was up to, he hadn’t warned his son before implementing his new plan.

"We promised we'd let your friend go. But, I never said a word about you..."

It felt like walking into a glass door. They should have excepted this. Should have seen it coming. But they walked point blank into it.

"Oh I really don’t like this guy," Rick snarled under his breath.

"Shh," Gordon shushed.

Rick scowled furiously. His leg started bouncing again. Gordon raised his eyes to the ceiling.

"Change of plans. I'm gonna do the counting this time. By the time I get to zero, if Magnum here hasn't dropped his gun, Kill her."

A bolt of protective fury burned through Rick. He grabbed his gun and reached for the door, "I'm gonna kill him-"

Gordon reached back through the chairs and yanked Rick back down into his seat, hissing, " _sit down_!"

Rick crashed back down into his chair and scowled furiously at Gordon. It wasn’t just Juliet in danger now, it was Juliet and Thomas. He couldn't bare losing either of him.

"You go crashing in there you ruin our element of surprise and give away our location. Chances are all three of you and up dead and those two vanish into the wind! Sit down, stick to the plan!" Gordon spat.

Rick opened his mouth to argue, but TC gave him a calm and reasoned look in the rear-view mirror, "Tommy's got this bud. We just have to trust him."

Rick folded his arms in frustration. This was infuriating.

"Magnum you can't trust them."

Rick groaned. Juliet sounded tense. She sounded afraid. Rick hated that. Absolutely none of this was doing anything to make him any less anxious. Then the count down started. It felt worse with each step.

"Five... Four... Three...Two... One..."

There was no air in the car because no one was breathing. No one dared to make any kind of sound that might mask the radio. There was still static crackling so they were still live. They were still listening. But there was nothing to hear. It was just... silence.

Then a gunshot.

Outside of the van a flock of birds scattered out of the trees to escape the sudden dangers. The sound reverberated across the reserve, bouncing off of the trees. Inside it was like the world had gone static. Rick stared at the radio like it was to blame. TC and Gordon couldn't look away. The terror that gripped them froze all of them into place.

Hamler's smug chuckle crackled through. "Well, let's go!"

Rick had only ever felt fury like this once before in his life. When he last saw Hannah. He had hated her from the instantly she walked back into his life and she had left Thomas alive. Broken, but alive.

Hamler was going to die.

"It's gonna be okay," Thomas said.

"Oh thank Christ!" TC yelled.

Thomas's voice was close to the speaker. Too close. Like he had been captured. But he was _alive!_ Whatever had been shot was not Thomas. And he had to be reassuring Juliet, which meant they were both okay. Rick looked up to the sky. He had never been a deeply religious man but sometimes, just sometimes, he had a feeling someone was looking out for them.

"Why are we still waiting, _drive!"_ Rick barked.

This time, TC didn’t object. He yanked the gears into position and sped off down the road, leaving skid marks in the tarmac as he did. Rick vaguely resembled a figurehead on an old ship at the way he leaned so far forward between the seats. He wasn't about to let a chair get in between him and his first glimpse of Juliet.

At the sound of another engine, Juliet leapt out of the land rover armed with nothing but a Leatherman multi tool, but ready to fight. Her shoulders sagged in relief and recognition. TC hadn’t fully stopped before Rick leapt out.

"You okay? You hurt?" He cried.

He raced across the check up on her, moving in for the hug he had been desperately seeking, only to be rebuffed. Juliet had just seen her friend and partner being dragged away by armed kidnappers who definitely wanted him dead. She wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

"No, I'm fine, but they took Magnum! We have to get him back!" She cried.

"We know. We heard the whole thing," Gordon assured her.

"We planted a listening device on Hamler," Rick explained quickly, "It also has a GPS."

"Yo! We got to move!" TC yelled.

"Let's go, let's go. Let's go!" Gordon called.

He ushered both Rick and Juliet back into the van before jumping back into the front seat. Rick pushed Juliet in first and slammed the door firmly behind him. The horse was back in the stable and this time he was going to bolt the door firmly.

"Are you hurt, let me see-" Rick reached out for her hand.

she snatched it back sharply, "I'm fine!"

"You’re not fine, I can see that from here!" Rick countered, "c’mon, I might not be a doctor like your boyfriend but I've got plenty of battlefield first aid training okay? Let me see."

Juliet stared at him in surprise. In all the drama this was the first time today that she'd even thought about Ethan. Honestly she hadn't even remembered he existed until Rick mentioned him. That felt like something that needed addressing.

Rick took her sudden freeze as an opportunity. He ran two fingers across her temple to brush her hair out of her face and examine the gash above her eye. There were fibres from the blindfold still embedded in it and the blood had dried up making it look messier than it was. Rick grabbed a water bottle and a cloth to try and clean it for her.

The bumpy terrain of the jungle did not help matters. Trying to be gentle with a wound of any kind while driving right over ancient tree roots, was difficult. Juliet hissed when he pressed too hard and he murmured an apology. It took less than a minute to clean away the excess blood though.

"Your wrists, those are rope burns. He tied you up?" Rick asked.

His voice was tangled with sympathy and fury. The sooner he got his hands on Miles the faster that man would regret being born. Juliet's right hand moved to her left wrist to try and hide the burns from him, but it only showed off the matching set on her right.

"Rick, focus! If you don't, Magnum could die!" Juliet insisted urgently.

Rick nodded urgently back. With Juliet safely beside him it was easier to focus on the next two steps of his plan. Rescue Thomas and shoot Miles.

Until they found the stolen car abandoned at the side of the road that is.

"Must of switched cars," Gordon said.

"The GPS tracker is still pinging to - here..." TC trailed off.

He knelt down slowly to pick up the tracker lying on the floor. This was not good.

"We know they took Magnum with them. That means he's still alive," Gordon assured them.

"Yeah, but we have no idea where they're headed!" TC countered, fearfully.

"Okay. Miles must have an exfil plan to get off the island, Right? If he's smart, he set an exchange near the airport they're planning to use," Juliet insisted.

"Makes sense. Minimizes the risk of getting caught," Rick agreed.

"Yeah, except there's no airstrip near here. Commercial or private," TC said.

"There's a port, though. It's a couple miles from here," Gordon said.

Juliet frowned hard like she was trying to remember something. Rick watched curiously.

"Second Glance!" She gasped.

"What's that?" He asked urgently.

"Where I was being held, I saw a note, It said Second Glance. Three and a half hours. Second Glance must be the ship they're leaving on," Juliet explained.

"Which makes three and a half hours the travel time," TC agreed. His face fell. "They're taking a boat to another island."

They broke at least three road laws to get to the port as fast as possible. If the police caught up with them now though traffic violations were the least of their worries. By the time they arrived they were just in time to spot Miles and Hamler racing towards an old warehouse. Rick smirked. Good old Thomas already had them on the run.

"Let's go-" Juliet began.

Rick held up a hand to stop her trying to climb past him and out the door. "Whoa okay, no. No, I'm sorry but you haven't got a gun or any body armour, you're not going out there!"

Juliet scowled at him but it was clear by the look on Rick's face alone that he wasn’t going to be swayed on this.

"He's right, you're not protected, stay here," Gordon agreed.

Juliet scowled at him too. "TC?!"

"We just got you back Higgy, what'd you think I’m gonna say?!" TC scoffed.

Juliet gagged in offence at all three men. She didn’t want to be put back in a box and left behind. She wasn’t the kind of girl who could miss out on the action. Not even if it meant going unarmed. Knowing this, Gordon twisted in his seat and gave her a serious look.

"Higgins I know you and Magnum don't respond to orders so I am asking you as a cop and as your friend, please just stay," he asked, plainly.

It was a gentle plea but a firm one. She didn’t have a response to it. So she sighed dramatically, dropped back in her seat, and folded her arms. With no time left to lost the others hurried out of the car.

"How long before she's following dyou think?" Rick asked.

"Two minutes, max," TC said.

"We'd better find Tommy fast," Gordon stated.

It turns out that Thomas wasn't that hard to find. Gordon just followed the sound of fighting until he spotted Hamler sneaking up on Thomas. He had a knife in his hand. Gordon aimed immediately.

The gunshot echoed out across the port. Juliet snapped up straight to attention. She dove out of the van immediately.

"Over here!"

Thomas panted heavily as TC and Rick both appeared, both ready and armed. Not for the first time, definitely not for the last, he was delighted to see them.

"You okay, TM?" TC asked.

He gave a small nod, "Yeah. Where's Higgins?"

Juliet came dashing across the pavement as soon as she heard Thomas's voice. She flew across to him and crashed into him so hard he took a step back. Thomas smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around her. She was safe. He was safe. They were both so relieved to be able to hold the other close.

Rick couldn't hold in the heavy sigh that ached in his chest. All day he had been solely focused on getting to Juliet and getting her safe that he had forgotten something important.

She didn't love him like he loved her.

Juliet pulled back and shoved Thomas furiously, "That was so incredibly stupid."

Thomas frowned, "Excuse me?"

"I can't believe you agreed to give up your gun and go with them!" She spat.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Thomas gave a breathy laugh.

Juliet's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, I suppose so..."

She looked around. They were both safe. Miles and Hamler were both dead. As insane as this whole thing had been, it was really over now. Which left dangerous questions without answers, and terrifying regrets to be rectified. Juliet bit her bottom lip as she glanced towards Rick.

He snatched his eyes away as soon as she caught him staring, and cleared his throat, "Well, what now, Gordon?"

"You, Magnum and TC have to get out of here," Gordon ordered, firmly. "I'll call it in. It'll probably take HPD about ten minutes to get here, which will hopefully give Higgins and I enough time to... get our stories straight."

Thomas blinked in surprise. "Katsumoto, you don't have to do this."

Gordon gave him a slightly amused scoff. He really didn't get it. All of the people in front of them had thrown themselves into a dangerous situation out of love, and he thought Gordon was going to back out now just because there was a little more risk to come.

"Yeah, I do. You guys can't be connected to this in any way," Gordon said.

Juliet glanced between the others. None of them wanted to leave. None of them wanted to risk one person taking the fall for all pf their actions. It was admirable. Stupid, but admirable.

"He's right, Magnum," she said. "You need to go."

Thomas glanced back at her. She nodded, insisting. Rick stared at Thomas, silently willing him to refuse. If Thomas stayed, Rick could stay. He had only just got her back. He couldn't just walk away.

But Thomas looked back to Gordon and nodded, gratefully, "Thank you."

TC ushered Thomas back towards the van and the two of them went jogging towards it in a hurry. Rick was far more reluctant. His eye lingered on Juliet, pleading to stay. She swallowed nervously.

"Get out of here before you end up in jail Rick! Go!"

Rick frowned, but he didn’t argue. There was no point. As he climbed back into the van, TC didn't wait for him to be sitting before he took off at full speed. They needed to be long gone before HPD arrived. Rick heaved himself into his seat and rested his head on the window. The mood in the car was heavy.

They had broken the law, risked their lives, risked Gordon's career, two men had died, and they didn't even have Juliet safe with them because she was about to be interrogated. They had won, but it didn't yet feel like a victory.

...

"This is killing me - Can I get something a little stronger?!" Kumu complained.

TC tossed his dish cloth across his shoulder and leaned against the bar, "Uh, I think we have some industrial cleaner in the back, how's that sound?"

Kumu pursed her lips and gave him a deeply unimpressed look. She was not pleased at how calm TC was about this whole thing. The adrenaline had rushed out of him by now and he had come to the conclusion that Juliet was safer with Gordon than she was anywhere else. He, at least, knew what he was talking about.

"It's been four hours," Thomas complained, "Seriously, how long does it take for the police to conduct an interview?

"Relax, if anybody can stand up to this kind of interrogation, it's Higgy," Rick assured him.

Rick too had come go the conclusion that Juliet was safe. But that was more to do with the fact that she had read at least two of the nine texts he had sent her so Gordon had given her her phone back.

"Speak of the devil," TC grinned.

Rick nearly fell off of his stool. Juliet beamed in delight to see them all again. Kumu stumbled slightly as she stood up. Rick snickered. She had drunk more than enough to settle her nerves.

"Hi," Juliet grinned.

"Oh, so?" Kumu demanded.

All eyes fell to Gordon. "Well, Higgins gave her statement. As far as HPD's concerned, she was targeted for her hacking skills. Miles Hamler kidnapped her and forced her to breach Wahiawa's server. Acting on an anonymous tip, I then tracked the Hamlers down. They were shot trying to flee the island. Accomplices are still at large."

"You see? What did I tell you?" Rick smirked at Thomas.

"Yeah, So how about a round to celebrate, eh?" Juliet urged pointedly.

TC nodded warmly, "hmm. Coming right up."

"Well, I can't stay long. It's my weekend with Dennis. I've already blown most of it," Gordon said.

Juliet's head snapped up in surprise. "You had your son today? And you came out to look for me instead?"

Gordon shrugged as if it were nothing, "It was important. You're my friend. I uh... I don't really have that many. That's the job."

Juliet stared at him, awed. Even Thomas's jaw hung open. They had known that today was a risky one for all of them but they hadn't known just how much _Gordon_ was putting on the line. It shifted their whole perspective.

"Yeah but you only have one son," Rick said.

"That's true but... ugh," Gordon sighed heavily, "I guess he's come to expect it from me these days. I missed most of his childhood."

Juliet laid a hand on his arm and said, earnestly, "Then I am truly grateful for your help today. Really."

"Yeah, me too. I knew you were risking your career helping us but I didn't think you'd risk your home life too," Thomas agreed.

"Well that's the burden of the job Magnum, and more importantly, I risked my career to help _Higgins._ Not you," Gordon said.

He patted Juliet's hand gratefully as she gave his arm a squeeze. She was utterly floored. No one had ever put so much on the line for her before. It was a never ending surprise. One that Thomas - who was used to this by now - breezed past.

"Not true. You sent me away from the crime scene. You kept us out of this. You saved us," He grinned.

"Yeah Gordy, you’re a hero! We couldn't have done this without you," TC agreed.

"Three cheers for Gordy!" Rick cried.

Gordon cringed, "That’s not necessary-"

"HIP HIP!" Rick cried, stubbornly.

"HOORAY!" They cheered.

"HIP HIP!" Rick cried again.

"Alright, alright, enough!" Gordon interrupted. The others chuckled, but they allowed him to silence them. "I've got more important people to spend my time with. Do me a favour and stay out of trouble. At least for the rest of the weekend!"

"I'll keep them in line Gordon. I promise. Thank you for everything," Juliet said.

"Stay for just one drink?" Rick pleaded.

Gordon didn’t take much convincing. TC grinned as he went to find him a bottle of beer. While he was gone, Suzie came wandering over.

"Look at this! The whole crew is here. What's the occasion?" She asked cheerfully.

Rick looked around at the others, hoping someone else would answer. Juliet just tried not to laugh. Poor Suzie didn’t understand what a loaded question that was.

"You know, just celebrating being alive," Juliet smiled.

Rick snickered behind his hand. Thomas took a drink to stop himself laughing. Kumu just looked stressed. Suzie glanced between them uncertainly.

"Mm. Good a reason as any..." she said.

Juliet chuckled. She settled into her seat and stifled a yawn. She felt Kumu's hand on her shoulder.

"Juliet, you've had a hell of a day. You sure you wouldn't rather be at home?" Kumu asked.

Juliet tensed. Logically she knew that Kumu was right. Being back at Robin's Nest would have been a lot more comfortable. It was where she was defended. Literally. The security system at Robin's Nest was ten to none. But for whatever reason it didn’t feel anywhere near as safe as _here._ This ridiculous bar, with all of its mess, and her friends right beside her, felt better. It was much more comfortable here.

"After what I've been through, I could use a drink. or three," Juliet said. She glanced towards Rick. "Plus, um, this band is pretty good."

"They are, aren't they? It's a shame the crowd's not giving them more love," Suzy said. She gave Rick a pointed look, "Dance floor's empty."

Juliet frowned. In the rush of the day, she had forgotten about Suzie. Specifically she had forgotten about Rick and Suzie.

"I know, right?" Rick said.

"Yeah, someone should get out there and get the dancing started. I mean, I would. if someone would just ask me," Suzie said, pointedly.

"Totally," Rick nodded.

Kumu's chin dropped towards her chest, floored at his stupidity. "She's talking about you, idiot."

Juliet's eyes widened in exasperation and she tried to hide her smile behind her glass. It made her chest warm to remember how dense Rick was.

"Right! Uh... Yeah, totally, Suzie, you want to dance with me?" Rick asked.

"Oh, hell no!" Suzie scoffed.

Rick deflated, "Oh."

Kumu looked surprised but Juliet tightened her grip on the neck of her beer as she tensed again. For a split second she considered leaping over the bar and shaking Suzie by the shoulders to demand an explanation. Then Suzie grinned.

"Kidding. I'd love to."

"Okay. All right, Great!"

Juliet's stomach clenched. She plastered on a smile as Rick stood up. He held out a hand to Suzie to lead her out towards the dance floor. Gordon let out a heavy breath.

"That was hard to watch," he said.

Kumu laughed in agreement. Gordon patted her shoulder warmly as a farewell, and left before anyone could stop him. TC wandered away to serve some of the customers waiting in the bar. Alone, Juliet looked towards Thomas. He was watching Rick and Suzie, but there was some distance around him. Juliet nudged him gently.

"Why so glum? We should be festive," she said.

Thomas's eyes flickered with something Juliet couldn't fully put her finger on. Maybe it was guilt, maybe he was still just worrying, but he looked so distant.

"Not glum, I'm just, uh... just glad you're okay..." he smiled softly. She tilted her head. He looked away from her sheepishly. "You know, years ago I made this decision to go after Hamler, and because of that... you could have died."

Juliet suddenly realised what that look in his eyes was. Shame. Thomas took responsibility for everyone he ever met and the idea of slipping up and putting them in danger weighed heavily on him. Just like his nightmares. But Juliet was a grown up. She could take responsibility for herself. She rested her chin on her hand.

"Thomas, you know what I thought of you when I first met you?"

"Not entirely but I can imagine," Thomas smiled.

"Yes, well, needless to say, it wasn't all that positive," she admitted, "but, um, you know, that night in the wine cellar, when I learned how you were helping Kiana... That's when my whole opinion of you began to change. I saw that you were someone who was genuinely concerned about people. Would do anything to help them. And I hope that never changes."

She meant it too. Thomas was both the most and least responsible person she had ever met. It was exhausting, but she had learned to roll with it.

When her phone rang it took them both by surprise. "It's Ethan. Well, I should call him. Back in a sec."

Thomas nodded and let her go. Juliet hurried away to take the call in private. She had to prepare herself to lie to Ethan. The less people who knew the truth the better. But her eye moved back towards Suzie and Rick for a moment. If she could lie to herself about being okay seeing them dance, she could lie to Ethan. Still she took a deep breath before answering the phone.

"So your friend Magnum let slip that you like me. A lot by the sound of it," Suzie said to Rick as they danced.

"He did?"

Rick felt his heart skip a beat in alarm. After being on edge all day he wasn't sure that he could handle having to explain himself now.

Suzie nodded, "And I assume its something to do with some misinformation along the line because you like Juliet."

Rick glanced towards the bar, where he had last seen Juliet. She wasn't there. He wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

"I can explain," he mumbled.

Suzie snickered, "Rick, do you really think I don’t know what you've been up to? Thomas loves Juliet and you're worried about what that would mean for you and now you're using me as a shield."

Rick blinked in surprise, "I... how did you-"

"I told you, _I listen._ I watch. I’m an artist, I'm pretty good at reading people," she chuckled.

"I'm sorry. I really hope I didn't any you uncomfortable-"

"It's okay. I get it. We've all had crushes on people we really shouldn't. I wont tell."

"You wont?"

"If I was going to tell I would have told Thomas when he told me you liked me. And I definitely wouldn’t have asked you to dance with me."

Suzie chuckled to herself at the look of bafflement painted across his face. His dancing slowed, so she slipped a little closer to force him go continue. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Right... then why did you?" Rick asked slowly.

"To tell you I'm in," Suzie grinned. "If you want to use me as a shield, I'll back you up. And if you'd asked me, I would have told you that beforehand."

"That’s... that’s really good of you Suzie. You know I cant give you a pay rise right?" Rick asked.

Suzie chuckled, "Its not about that."

"Then why?" He asked.

Suzie shrugged, "I'm kind of curious to see what's gonna happen. This gives me an excuse to stick around. And a boyfriend to get my mom off my back. And besides, if painting falls through I can always write down whatever happens and create a killer stage play!"

Suzie chuckled.

"If you make a stage play out of my life I expect royalties," Rick said.

"Hmm," Suzie pretended to consider this, "How's 80-20 sound to you?"

"60-40?"

"75-25."

"Deal," Rick grinned. He gave her an impressed look, "You’re a shrewd negotiator."

"And you are a fabulous dancer!" Suzie laughed.

"Yeah? Watch this!"

Rick reached his arm up to spin her happily around. Suzie howled with laughter. Rick caught her by the hip and pulled her back up against him. He grinned wider. After the day he had just the sound of someone laughing lifted his spirits.

"Woo! I cant wait to see the audience reactions. They’re gonna eat this up," Suzie grinned.

Rick tilted his head a little. Suzie was a strange woman, but he had to admit, he liked her. She deliberately leaned back to pull Rick to the side where he could see his friends at the bar watching him. Juliet included.

"They make a cute couple huh?" TC smirked.

Juliet's chest ached and worried her lip as she watched them dance. She tilted her head towards Kumu's empty cup. The fumes coming off of that were powerful.

"Mm," she muttered in agreement. Then she nudged the cup towards TC. "Can I have whatever this was?"

TC chuckled warmly, "It was industrial cleaner. Kumu's had quite a day too."

He gestured towards Kumu. She was out on the dance floor too, swaying her hips happily and laughing along in time to the tune. The kind of care free joy that came with not being sober.

Juliet rolled her head towards TC. "I'll take it on the rocks."

TC raised an eyebrow at her. She turned her head back to look at Rick and Suzie. She bit her lip as she watched them. She looked... TC wasn't sure. She didn’t look as festive as she wanted to.

"You okay?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Just a long day. I could use another drink."

TC chuckled and nodded affectionately, "Coming right up."


End file.
